1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote control system and an access control method for an information input apparatus and, more particularly, to a remote control system and a remote control method of remotely operating a camera apparatus equipped with a video camera and a microphone for a TV conference, and an access control method of controlling access to a camera apparatus connected to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a monitoring system or a communication conference system, a network system has been proposed in which computers connected to video cameras are connected in a network to allow an operator to remotely operate a video camera connected to another arbitrary computer and to receive an image from a given video camera. In this video transmission system, a given computer can remotely operate a given video camera and receive an image taken by the video camera. When microphones are also installed together with video cameras, it is possible to simultaneously receive an image taken by a given video camera and voices collected by a microphone attached to the video camera.
The above remote monitoring system and TV conference system use cameras whose panning, tilting, and zooming are remotely controllable. However, the TV conference system is a dedicated system installed in a conference room, and so terminals capable of participating in the conference are usually limited. That is, it is not expected that a terminal which is not a conference member newly participates in the conference while the conference is being held. Accordingly, all terminals need to become conference members in advance, and a system manager performs a setting operation for that purpose.
Recently, however, high-speed computer networks have rapidly become popular and improvements in the function and reduction in the cost of workstations or personal computers have advanced. As a result, it has become possible to realize a TV conference system in which many unspecified persons can participate by using personal computers and the like apparatuses.
In such a TV conference system in which unspecified persons are expected to participate, a large number of persons take part in and leave the TV conference as needed, and consequently system management becomes more and more important. The system management is to control participation in and retirement from the conference (connection and disconnection of a terminal with respect to the network), set access permissions between terminals of conference participants, and inform access states between the conference participants.
It is particularly necessary to be able to dynamically manage granting and withholding of permission to perform a camera operation. The following consideration also is necessary for terminals except for dedicated terminals installed in a conference room. That is, general computers are arranged in accordance with their respective principal purposes. Therefore, if a video camera for a TV conference is arranged in the vicinity of such a computer, an image which the user does not want another person to see is transmitted to other terminals as, e.g., a background. It is unnatural and troublesome to draw a curtain in the background only for a TV conference. A video camera of the self-terminal can be made unable to be controlled by other terminals. However, this makes smooth conversions difficult and impairs the advantage that images of persons and materials can be taken and transmitted in proper sizes at proper locations any time.